Canaan Valley Flower Company

11/01/2026

“ ‘In your language you have a form of poetry called a sonnet...It is a very strict form of poetry, is it not?..There are fourteen lines, I believe, all in iambic pentameter. That’s a very strict rhythm or meter, yes?...And each line has to end with a rigid rhyme pattern. And if the poet does not do it exactly this way, it is not a sonnet, is it?’
‘No.’
‘But within this strict form the poet has complete freedom to say whatever he wants, doesn’t he?’
‘Yes.’ Calvin nodded again.
‘So,’ said Mrs. Whatsit.
‘So what?’
‘Oh, do not be stupid, boy!’ Mrs. Whatsit scolded. ‘You know perfectly well what I am driving at!’
‘You mean you’re comparing our lives to a sonnet? A strict form, but with freedom within it?’
‘Yes,’ Mrs. Whatsit said. “You’re given the form, but you have to write the sonnet yourself.’ “

- Madeleine L’Engle, A Wrinkle in Time

10/29/2026

Nothing like a backhoe digging a big hole in your backyard to make you take a break and read a pretty magazine.
Even better is to see your wedding flowers in it!
Wishing Laura and Brad much happiness. 💕💍

10/25/2026

“Where can we see God more plainly than in art?”
⁃ Blanche Lazelle

Blanche Lazzell: Becoming an American Modernist is the largest exhibition of the artist’s work ever mounted, featuring over 80 works selected from the Art Museum of WVU. The exhibit is in Morgantown until December 13, 2026.

https://artmuseum.wvu.edu/art/exhibitions/blanche-lazzell

Celebrated for her masterful white-line woodblock prints, Blanche Lazzell (1878–1956) considered herself a painter first and foremost—from her early days studying in West Virginia, New York, and Paris through Depression-era Federal Art Projects and as a longtime resident of Provincetown’s vibrant art colony.

Born and raised in the small community of Maidsville, West Virginia, Lazzell graduated from West Virginia University with a degree in fine arts in 1905.

Seeking further instruction, she first enrolled in the Art Students League in New York City, she worked in Woodstock, New York, at the Byrdcliffe Artist’s Colony, and then went on two extensive trips to Europe. There she immersed herself in the studios of avant-garde artists who explored abstraction through the new movements of Fauvism and Cubism. Lazzell embraced these influences in her own work, creating some of the first non-objective prints and paintings seen in this country.

She eventually settled in the artist colony of Provincetown, Massachusetts, where she worked with Hans Hofmann, co-founded the Provincetown Printers, and became a leading figure in white-line color woodblock printmaking.

10/22/2026

My farmhands’ names are Bob. Bob White, that is.

10/19/2026

Good morning, sunshine!☀️

10/18/2026

… it is only with the first celery that summer is over.
…
But now, suddenly, I am reconciled to autumn. I see quite clearly that all good things must come to an end. The summer has been splendid, but it has lasted long enough. This morning I welcomed the chill in the air; this morning I viewed the falling leaves with cheerfulness; and this morning I said to myself, “Why, of course, I’ll have celery for lunch.” (“More bread, waiter.”)…

Yet, I can face the winter with calm. I suppose I had forgotten what it was really like. I had been thinking of the winter as a horrid wet, dreary time fit only for professional football. Now I can see other things—crisp and sparkling days, long pleasant evenings, cheery fires. Good work shall be done this winter. Life shall be lived well. The end of the summer is not the end of the world. Here’s to October—and, waiter, some more celery.

Milne, A. A.. “A word for autumn.”

10/17/2026

Two pink Breast Cancer Awareness Month bouquets left! Pink ribbon included. $22.50 each.
Call, text or email! 💪💕

10/16/2026

Let’s talk about the difference between tender annuals and cool-hardy annuals…

Two plants. Same bed. Under the same frost cloth. Same cold autumn nights. (Ho ho ho happy Frost-Mas!)

One, the shiso in the back, is now mush. Done for the season.

The other, the Sweet William in the front, is blooming stronger than ever.

Which one do you think is tender? And which one is hardy?

That’s why this flower farm aims to grow as many hardy annuals as possible!

10/16/2026

10/13/2026

At some point each year, a big truck or tractor (or both!) come down the road and stop at my place.

The road is briefly blocked, but the neighborhood kids are delighted!

As am I, although with a dose of financial trepidation.

Two years ago, we established growing beds with dump truck loads of mushroom compost. Last year, the big investment was a deer fence. This year it’s a CoolBot walk-in cooler kit.

This year, as ever, my thanks are not big enough to match the help my neighbours and friends provided!